Durban - The race for the ANC’s KwaZulu-Natal chairmanship will seemingly go down to the wire, with various branches having endorsed different candidates as their preferred choice for the position in the coming elective conference.
Four names – the incumbent chairperson, Sihle Zikalala, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, Siboniso Duma and businessman Sandile Zungu – have been doing the rounds among ANC branches in the province.
The ANC will hold its ninth elective conference in Durban from July 15 to 17.
The party had given all branches until June 30 to convene their branch general meeting (BGM) to nominate delegates for the conference and endorse their preferred top five leaders and additional members.
Dube-Ncube, currently serving as KZN MEC for Finance, and Zikalala, who is KZN premier, were officially nominated by their home branches last month.
While Zungu and Duma are equally ambitious, Zikalala and Dube-Ncube are tipped as frontrunners as they are already serving in government, with sizeable support bases.
The provincial chairperson position is a powerful one within the ANC as it carries the prospect of becoming a premier.
Zikalala's branch, the Million Meyiwa in Ndwedwe, where he resides, nominated him to continue as the party's pilot on the grounds that he had successfully steered the provincial government and ANC during trying times.
The Linda Nzama branch in KwaMashu, from where Dube-Ncube hails, nominated her, saying as a daughter of the soil with extensive experience in government, she would return the province to its former glory.
Dube-Ncube was the most experienced provincial cabinet member, having served in three portfolios.
Both Zikalala and Dube-Ncube have been active on the ground, visiting various regions and mobilising support through addressing memorial lectures.
Zungu’s campaign has not gained momentum as he has not been endorsed by any region.
In a recent TV interview, Zungu confirmed that he heeded a call to contest for the chairperson position from various people in the province.
Zungu said the ANC was on a downward spiral and needed a turnaround before the 2024 elections.
He recalled his business skills and achievements as the main drawcard for the ANC.
The owner of Amazulu Football Club said he had been to all the regions and the support was awesome.
On Friday, Zungu visited former president Jacob Zuma in Nkandla to “consult”about his decision to accept the nomination.
Duma, an ANC provincial executive committee member and chair of chairs in the legislature, also confirmed he had been nominated by various branches.
He said he would accept the nomination .
About his ambitions, he said: “It is a collective decision, I can not say what I want or what I am capable of.
"If the branches see me fit for a certain position, there is nothing I can do. It is the culture of the party that all we do is the mandate of the branches,“ said Duma.
ANC spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Nhlakanipho Ntombela said the branches were given the weekend to finalise their meetings.
“The PEC will meet during the week and review how many branches managed to convene their BGM. The decision to extend will be taken based on the number of those that could not convene,” he said.
Political analyst, Professor Bheki Mngomezulu, from the University of the Western Cape, said despite the likes of Zikalala and Dube-Ncube being seen as the front-runners, there was no certainty in politics until the event was over.
“We have a reference point in what happened in 2017, where the writing was almost on the wall that Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was going, but unfortunately, at the eleventh hour, the current President Cyril Ramaphosa took over by 179 votes.
“As much as the incumbent chairperson Zikalala might be having an edge over the other three, there is nothing certain, because if you take Zungu, he doesn’t have political baggage, so there are people who might want to give him the benefit of the doubt and say ‘let’s give him a chance and see what he has to offer’,” Mngomezulu said.
He said that the experience of Dube-Ncube as a seasoned politician could not be discounted as she had proved capable in different portfolios.
However, he said that all four candidates had something to look forward to, but it would all depend on the day.
“The fact that Zikalala has been nominated by a number of branches is not a guarantee that he will win because one day in politics is a day too long, even some hours might change some things.
“But as things stand they all have what it takes to take the position; it will depend on what happens between now and the actual election on the day because even if the day before it appears you are leading, there is no guarantee that at the end of the conference you will emerge victorious,” Mngomezulu said.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE